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Portugal is close to reaching an agreement with the European Union and IMF on a bailout for the debt-laden country and there are no disagreements between the donors, the European Commission and the IMF said on Tuesday.

Portugal has reached a deal on a three year bailout loan with the European Union and IMF, caretaker Prime Minister Jose Socrates said on Tuesday.

Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou suggested on Monday that the EU and the IMF give Greece more time to repay its bailout funds, and at a cheaper rate, to allow it to exit its severe debt crisis.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) that robust economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region may lead to overheating and rising inflationary pressures.

Portugal may get more leeway on its efforts to reduce the budget deficit under an EU/IMF bailout, a newspaper reported on Wednesday, after the prime minister vowed to protect the country from excessive austerity.

Mexico's peso may dip against the dollar once the United States starts tightening monetary policy but the overall impact on Mexico should be limited, Finance Minister Ernesto Cordero said on Sunday.

The euro has decoupled from the euro zone peripheral debt crisis in 2011.

Silver Prices extended their Dollar gains to 7.7% for this week alone, also reaching new multi-decade and all-time highs vs. the world's other major currencies.

The United States lacks a credible plan to cut its deficit over the medium term, the International Monetary Fund's chief economist Olivier Blanchard told French daily Le Monde in an interview published on Wednesday.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron has suggested he may prevent former Labour PM Gordon Brown from becoming the next managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The International Monetary Fund on Monday said the policy response by emerging market economies to deal with a surge in capital inflows was insufficient and warned it could lead to a hard landing.

China's yuan is close to being a freely usable currency, one of two key tests for it to be included in the International Monetary Fund's currency basket, the deputy governor of China's central bank said on Sunday.

International Monetary Fund member countries sought to bridge sharp differences over the global economy, acknowledging that rising inflation in emerging markets poses a risk to rich countries too.

The International Monetary Fund should offer recommendations for national policies that spur excessive flows of capital into other economies as well as policies that seek to temper them, the IMF's steering committee said on Saturday.

Greece has no plans to restructure its debt and the International Monetary Fund is not considering a plan, the country's finance minister, George Papaconstantinou, said on Saturday.

Greece has no plans to restructure its debt and the International Monetary Fund is not considering a plan, the country's finance minister, George Papaconstantinou, said on Saturday.

Following are highlights of comments by financial leaders attending the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings on Saturday.

Nearly a decade worth of work to reach a world trade deal is on the verge of failure, World Trade Organization Director General Pascal Lamy said on Saturday in a plea for countries to rise above their own narrow interests for the good of the global economy.

IMF member nations, acknowledging resistance from emerging markets to limits on capital controls, said rich nations' policies that spur large capital outflows that could harm other economies also need oversight.

The German finance ministry on Saturday denied it was drawing up contingency plans for a Greek debt restructuring after the Financial Times reported the ministry was studying various options if Athens fails to meet its fiscal targets.

Germany is urging Athens to adopt contingency plans that would foresee a voluntary, market-friendly debt restructuring should Greece fail to meet its ambitious fiscal targets, the Financial Times reported.

A Moody's downgrade and growing speculation Greece may eventually restructure its debt took the shine off Ireland's thumbs-up from the EU and the IMF Friday for its efforts to claw its way back from crisis.

Japan's fragile post-disaster political truce unraveled on Thursday as the head of the main opposition party called on unpopular Prime Minister Naoto Kan to quit over his handling of the country's natural calamities and a nuclear crisis.

Greece will present new fiscal and privatization plans on Friday in an attempt to convince investors it can meet the terms of an EU/IMF bailout and avoid restructuring its debt.

Many European banks need bigger capital cushions to restore market confidence and help reduce the risk of another financial crisis, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday.

The world's banks face a $3.6 trillion wall of maturing debt in the next two years and must compete with debt-laden governments to secure financing, the IMF warned on Wednesday.

Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers meeting in Washington later this week are expected to reach an agreement on guidelines to identify global economic imbalances, French government sources said on Tuesday.

US stocks are mixed on global worries ahead of the unofficial start of first quarter earnings season.

Emerging markets are likely to be increasingly prone to asset price bubbles in coming years due to capital inflows from advanced economies and strong domestic saving, a top Bank of England official said on Saturday.